We managed to spend most of the morning fixing Emma's phone. Absolutely no idea what was wrong with it, but now it works. We then had the challenge of trying to find a cash point that worked and didn't have a horrendously long queue. In the end we had to go with the long queue option just for it to work!
We got to the tour agency on time for our wine tour. We'd been discussing this moment for a while. After being priced out of every bottle of wine in sight in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia we now had wine on tap basically. We learnt that Argentina produces just over 10% of the world's wine, with Mendoza producing over 70% of Argentina's wine. This was a serious wine making region.
As we drove along in the bus, either side of the road was covered entirely in vineyards. Unfortunately it wasn't the prime season so we couldn't see any grapes. Thus all of the vineyards were just trees and vines and no fruit.
We were given a tour of three wineries. Each one had something slightly different to offer. In each of the first two wineries we were given two normal malbecs followed by malbecs that were supposedly "special" due to being left in an oak barrel for a while. The special ones were meant to be double the price but I honestly couldn't say that they tasted nicer at all. I wasn't going to claim that I was a wine connoisseur - i still knew which ones I preferred though.
At one of the wineries we had the opportunity to buy an Argentinean sweet - dulche de leche. Emma claimed that it was the most delicious sweet she had ever tasted. It was a caramel-type filling with a sort of sort, yet sweet pastry on either side, turning it into a sandwich.
On the way back from the wine tour the guide bought a bottle of wine and decided to do a giveaway competition. He numbered us up (a few rowdy Argentinians) before explaining the game. We all had to look out at the number plates of the cars going past. If the final two numbers on the car matched your number (07 was number 7 and so forth) then you didn't win. BUT the second person's number that came up would win. A slight twist. This led to great entertainment for the majority of the slightly inebriated group. However, we were much busier admiring the sunset over the mountains and the colours it produced on the clouds.
Dinner was a fairly uneventful event before we hit the road and headed to an ice cream parlour. Thankfully the cashier spoke near perfect English and explained to us the different flavours. These ice creams were heavenly. Thus topped off an enjoyable day in Argentina.
